Testimonials

Our wonderful customers are the reason we’re in business. Here are some of the great things they’ve said about us.

We’ll do everything we can to make sure you’re a satisfied customer, too!

VADM Pat Tracey, USN, (Ret) Director of the US Navy Staff, and now VP at HP Enterprise Services, said that she particularly valued our strategic planning for her organizations, as we brought content to the planning, not just process. That content gave context for the leaders’ thinking which enabled them to make transformational changes in their organizations. “Strategic planning approached through the lens of the Vision-Based Planning framework Christine MacNulty and Steve Woodall have developed is about more than that. It is about the leadership of an enterprise discovering a shared concept of what matters to them about the future and who and what they must become together to achieve it.” She brought us in to work for 3 different organizations.

General Rich Hearney, USMC, the former Assistant Commandant Marine Corps, has said that the project (Vision and Strategic Plan for the 21st Century) our team conducted for the Marine Corps was one of the most successful projects it had undertaken and that, by bringing together the 21 General Officers in the leadership of the Corps to think through future options, it led to its successes during the past periods of conflict. General Hearney is still in touch with us, and has recommended us to several organizations.

Vice Admiral Robert Natter, USN(then the N3/N5 for Operations and Strategy) asked our team to develop a vision and strategic plan for the Navy to achieve knowledge superiority (before the term information superiority was even coined.) Working with 20 Flag Officers, 8 members of the Senior Executive Service and 30 Naval Captains, they developed a shared vision and strategic plan for Knowledge Superiority that was implemented completely, including the standing up of the new Naval Network Warfare Command.

Lieutenant General Ed Anderson III, USAcalled our team in after two previous attempts to pull the (then) Space and Strategic Defense Command together around a vision had failed. He had 6 organizations that he described as having been “kluged” together. They did not want to be together and they did everything they could to be uncooperative. By the end of the first workshop, the HQ leadership and the leadership of the 6 organizations were talking about “we” and “us” and “ours”. By the end of the second workshop they had a shared vision and strategic plan, and they had reorganized themselves into 4 functional organizations. They also changed their name to the Space and Missile Defense Command. LTG Anderson was so pleased with the outcome of this project that he called us back to assist with further developments.

Captain Tim Holden, USN, former Commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group ONE has said that the two projects our team conducted for NSWG1 were instrumental in changing the organizational structure of NSW Command and its way of doing business. During the project they developed the idea for the technology that became “Blue Force Tracker” and they subsequently gave it to the Army for further development. They also developed the Mission Support Center that proved invaluable during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their vision became the de facto vision for all of NSW. It lasted, almost unchanged, for more than 14 years.

LTG David P. Fridovich, USA,Deputy Commander, USSOCOM described a “futures” oriented project that we conducted for SOCOM as a “a phenomenal, great piece of work.”

Vice Admiral C.A. Johnstone-Burt, CB, OBE, Chief of Staff, HQ SACT, NATO said in a letter to Chris MacNulty: On behalf of General Jean-Paul Palomeros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, it is with enormous pleasure that I thank you for your participation in Allied Reach 2013. Without a doubt, your role as facilitator of Syndicate 6 was essential to the success of the Seminar, and the discussions on the human domain provided extremely useful insights on how best to achieve NATO military transformation across the near and long term… … You were brilliant! Thank you so much.

TESTIMONIALS FOR THE BOOK

Our Foreword, written by VADM (Ret) Patricia Tracey, USN, also serves as a good testimonial:

Choosing to engage in strategic planning activities is an act of ultimate optimism, reflecting a leader’s conviction that an advantageous future can evolve. Strategic planning approached through the lens of the Vision-Based Planning framework Christine MacNulty and Steve Woodall have developed is about more than that. It is about the leadership of an enterprise discovering a shared concept of what matters to them about the future and who and what they must become together to achieve it.

Chris is a mathematician who has an engineer’s curiosity for how humans and human systems behave as well as a gift for explaining complex enterprises using simplified concepts. Steve was, and is, by nature one of the “mavericks” referred to in the book—a constant fount of new and unusual ideas. Together, they have developed a process that runs from mind-expanding and highly visionary to pragmatic and highly actionable. And they make it fun.

Although I was privileged to meet Chris and Steve earlier in my career, my opportunity to experience their workshops came when I took responsibility for a large and complex organization whose leadership believed they had been discarded by the enterprise they had devoted their lives to. Huge changes were happening in the environment around us, dramatically increasing the importance and challenge of our mission. Maintaining the status quo would threaten the future capability of the entire enterprise, but the leadership team doubted that real change was within their grasp. The Vision-Based Planning workshops Chris and Steve led reignited the passion of our team for the institution we loved. The vision and plans we coalesced reflected our deeply shared sense of responsibility for ensuring the readiness of the next generation. As much as the inspiration of our vision, the specificity of our action plans secured an unprecedented level of investment to effect change. We accomplished many things together during my tenure, and when the vision and plans were revisited three years after my departure, they formed the basis of an even larger and more ambitious campaign.

Strategy with Passion is exactly what Chris and Steve do. And it is contagious.

“By showcasing the transformative power of effective strategy and planning, this hands-on, highly practical book will inspire and equip leaders at all levels to embrace the future.”

John R. Ryan, President & CEO, Center for Creative Leadership

“Christine and Steve have joined forces to develop a method for understanding people in ways that are complementary to the values we cherish and is revolutionary in its approach to strategic planning. I firmly believe this new combined approach is superior to anything else available anywhere, and It can assist military operations, the intelligence community and even policy makers. It is a must read and can be used for any country or culture anywhere in the world.”

…a great read by the way!

LTG (R) Mike Flynn, Former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency.

“Today’s most successful business leaders are “ninja innovators,” who embrace adaptability, decisiveness and a mission-oriented strategy. Strategy with Passion: A Leader’s Guide to Exploiting the Future recognizes that great leaders must be open to change. Success requires not only evaluating opportunities and threats, but innovative, visionary and passionate leaders who keep their businesses evolving. Christine MacNulty and Stephen Woodall show why leaders must own the strategic planning process.”

Gary Shapiro, Chairman, Consumer Electronics Association

Passion leads reason in action. Reason is the work of our minds. If we could, we recall all a priori and a posteriori knowledge to act. Passion, is the work of our hearts. It is a force multiplier. “Passion” becomes the “Reason” when we know in our hearts “WHY” we need to get there. Shared enthusiasm demands seeing a shared future. Chris and Steve are the alchemists. They unveil the perfect recipe in “strategy with passion”. A must read for the exceptional leader. A compass for getting THERE.

The Honorable Bijan R. Kian, former Member, Board of Directors Export-Import Bank of The United States

“In days when businesses are dominated by specialized units, MacNulty and Woodall highlight the importance of a strategic vision to drive and direct growth and to inspire the executive and work force. They lay out a workshop technique to generate this vision and to create stakeholders in its realization and execution. An important contribution to corporate transformation thinking”

Few leaders today really understand strategy – what it is, why it requires creativity, analysis and synthesis, and how to develop an effective strategic plan. Even fewer know how to implement one. Chris and Steve have been helping leaders develop and implement vision-based strategic plans for more than 25 years, and in this book they have shared their 11-step process and many humorous anecdotes.